Controls specialist Carel Group has announced a 13.5% increase in sales for 2016.
Sales for the group totalled 231 million euros, up from 203.5 million euros in 2015.
Managing Director Francesco Nalini said: “The focus of our innovation continues to be improved efficiency and sustainability in the air-conditioning and refrigeration sectors. Our growth in 2016 is the result of the most innovative solutions in these areas, and shows how our R&D efforts are focused in the right direction.
"We have also seen very positive results from our systems designed for new refrigerants with a low environmental impact, especially natural refrigerants. In 2017 we intend to continue investing in all of these solutions, with even greater attention to connectivity, envisioning the added value we can offer our customers through machine learning algorithms”.
Export sales for 2016 accounted for 80% of the group total: analysis of earnings by geographical region shows how growth in terms of markets was driven by Europe, with an overall average increase of 19%, as well as good performance in Asian markets (+8%).
The growth was accompanied by an increase in staff numbers across the group, with employee numbers up by 132 to 1222.
As part of the company’s expansion strategy, two new sales offices were opened in Thailand and Korea, while the group’s fourth foreign manufacturing plant was opened in Labin, Croatia, second only to headquarters in terms of size.
